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Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai said Friday that their pending divorce won’t impact the ownership of their sports empire, which includes the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, the WNBA’s New York Liberty and the economics of the Barclays Center. Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment (BSE), the parent company, also includes the Nets’ G League affiliate, a training center and a handful of other real estate investments. “Joe will remain chairman and Clara will remain vice chair of [BSE],” the couple said in a statement. “Joe will remain governor of the Brooklyn Nets and Clara will remain governor of the New York Liberty. They will continue to own and be stewards of the teams with professional management in place as they always have.”
Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai said their relationship over the years “evolved into more of a partnership, one of running their businesses and raising their children together.” They added the divorce is amicable and that they plan to involve their children in the long-term ownership of the sports teams. Joe Tsai’s shares in Alibaba, the Chinese tech giant that he co-founded, are also unaffected, according to the statement.
The New York Post was first to report on the divorce’s impact on the Tsais’ assets. The Tsais acquired a 49% ownership stake in the Nets and the Barclays Center rights in 2018. A year later they consolidated ownership at a $3.3 billion valuation, at the time the highest price ever paid for control of a U.S. sports franchise. The family bought the Liberty that same year, from James Dolan, for between $10 and $14 million, Sportico previously reported. Both assets have appreciated significantly. The Nets and arena assets are now worth $6.22 billion, per Sportico’s numbers. The Liberty are now worth $600 million.
Lewis also completed workouts this past week with the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics, and Cleveland Cavaliers, sources said, ahead of the NBA Draft, which takes place over June 24 and 25 (AEDT) at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, New York.
Amid a belief in some corners that the Nets are open to trading their pick while playing host to the draft itself at Barclays Center, sources say that they have indeed shown particular interest in Brown that would appear to run counter to any moving-down suggestions. I'm told that the Nets have visited Central Florida to audition Brown on his turf and then also hosted him last Thursday for Brown's first in-person visit in this draft cycle.
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Elliot Clough: Bennett Stirtz tells me he will be attending the NBA Draft at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York next Tuesday. Coach Ben McCollum will join Stirtz and his family in the green room. So far, Stirtz has worked out with the following teams: Charlotte Hornets Chicago Bulls Dallas Mavericks Memphis Grizzlies Oklahoma City Thunder Toronto Raptors He'll also workout for the Golden State Warriors prior to the draft.
Concurrently, a fascinating situation nearly materialized just up the Atlantic coast. The Brooklyn Nets were closer than anyone publicly realized to finalizing a mega-deal last season, having established a firm trade framework with Milwaukee to land the Greek Freak in the Barclays Center. However, internal momentum ultimately stalled due to lingering organizational concerns regarding the unique logistical and roster realities of bringing in Giannis alongside his brothers. Managing the “package deal” clause that has historically accompanied the superstar remains a complex variable that Brooklyn’s front office has been cautious to navigate, keeping an otherwise advanced deal temporarily on ice.
The 2022 NBA draft was in Brooklyn at Barclays Center, but Champagnie was on the draft bubble and watched on TV from his nearby family home rather than sitting in the stands of the arena. That was a good decision, as Champagnie went undrafted. “I was literally in the back of the crib in the corner crying,” Champagnie told Andscape. “I was tight. I was p‑‑‑ed. I felt like I did enough to get there. But you know what — and a bunch of people told me the same thing — that s‑‑‑ [going undrafted] don’t matter. It don’t matter. It makes it a little harder. But it makes it a little more me. It makes it a little more personal.”
Three weeks ago, at the end of a discussion of her first 100 days as governor of New Jersey at Newark’s Performing Arts Center, Mikie Sherill faced a series of rapid-fire questions from NJ.com political editor Brent Johnson. The subjects ranged from personal issues to state policy. But then a little more than an hour into the video, she faced an odd inquiry about the Brooklyn nee New Jersey Nets, long gone from Newark’s Prudential Center and before that the Byrne/Continental/IZOD Center. Would she be interested in bringing the Nets back from Brooklyn where the team moved in 2012 after 35 years in N.J.? Yes, indeed, she told Johnson. “I mean, would I support it? I ask about it all the time,” Sherrill said. “I love the idea. So, I have been pressing for that. I haven’t made a lot of headway yet; you know, maybe in my second 100 days. “But I do think there is some work being done for some — I don’t know if I’m allowed to say too much about it — but some people are working on some different sports coming into the Rock.”
The Nets are comfortably ensconced in the borough, about to play their 14th season at Barclays Center, the billion dollar arena that is now in the third year of a five-year, $140 million renovation. So has the governor and the Nets been in touch? Nope, according to the Nets. “There have been no conversations with ownership or leadership and the governor or her administration and we have no plans to bring the Brooklyn Nets back to New Jersey,” a league insider told ND in what amounts to a blanket denial. Why did the governor who’s still celebrating her political honeymoon make a commitment about what is decidedly not a big issue other than for a small minority of basketball fans? No idea, said the insider, calling the comments “very odd … “They’re perfectly happy in Brooklyn.”
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The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced today that 71 players have filed as early entry candidates for NBA Draft 2026, which will be held Tuesday, June 23 (First Round) and Wednesday June 24 (Second Round) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. pic.twitter.com/GfV338yqsz
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 27, 2026
The Nets didn’t face Giannis Antetokounmpo in their 96-90 win over the Bucks on Tuesday night at Barclays Center, and it’s unclear if they’ll see him Friday when they travel to Milwaukee. But it’s almost a fait accompli that they’ll call the Bucks about their want-away superstar this summer. “They’ll make calls,” a source told The Post. “They’ve made calls in the past.”
Undersized and undermanned, yes. But watch Josh Minott and Brooklyn’s bench lead a near comeback in their 93-92 heartbreaker Friday night at Barclays Center. And listen to Minott in the painful aftermath, and it would be clear just how much it meant. “I wanted that s–t so f–king bad,” said a visibly galled Minott, who had 22 points on a career-best 6-for-9 from deep. “Ever since we’ve been here, it’s like every game is an away game. [Friday] was just the night to really just stick it to everybody, man. As an organization, as a team, to show people that we got s–t here, yo.
New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown acknowledged Brooklyn’s performance after Friday’s 93-92 road win at Barclays Center. “Give Brooklyn a lot of credit. I thought they came out and they were extremely physical from the beginning of the game throughout the whole game and it impacted us and start with Jordi on down. Jordi outcoached me,” Brown said.